Category: News

Ten recipients of the Gratitude Scholarship program from Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories and Lebanon will begin their studies at United World College (UWC) schools around the world in September. These students have been chosen based on their high academic performance. Each is either a refugee or displaced, living in extreme poverty, or living with the loss of a parent or a guardian. Seven of the students will attend UWC Dilijan in Armenia, an international co-educational boarding school which hosts students from more than 60 countries.

The Gratitude Scholarship program, valued over $7 million, is a joint undertaking of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative and the Near East Foundation. Over the duration of the program, 100 promising students from countries affected by conflict, displacement and poverty in the Middle East will benefit from the opportunity to study at one of the United World College international schools and colleges. The program was established to thank the people of the Middle East who offered shelter and food to those displaced by the Armenian Genocide a century ago.

The Co-Founders of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative have also announced the continuation of the Amal Clooney Scholarship. Now in its second year, the scholarship offers one female student from Lebanon free enrollment in a two-year international baccalaureate program at UWC Dilijan. The student is selected based on her exemplary academic performance and interest in the promotion of human rights and international issues. The scholarship was established to strengthen cross-cultural education and understanding, in honor of the scholarship’s namesake, esteemed international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

“We are proud to offer education and international experience to deserving students from the Middle East, home to so many Armenians during the last century,” said Ruben Vardanyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. “By bringing together young people from across the world, we seek to promote international dialogue and understanding at an early age, when relationships are formed and values are instilled. Our hope is that this reinforces a sense of compassion, understanding and the willingness to help each other, even in the face of adversity.”

This year’s Amal Clooney Scholar was selected from more than 43 short-listed applicants for her stellar academic performance, positive energy and passionate sense of social responsibility, which she plans to put to good use by studying law at university.

“We are proud to be able to help empower our next generation of female leaders and humanitarians through this program,” Vardanyan added. “And we’re excited by the possibilities this scholarship holds for the young women of Lebanon and the region.”

The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative aims to advance collaborative social and philanthropic projects on behalf of the global Armenian community. Its flagship project is the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, a $1 million global humanitarian prize which honors those who put themselves at risk to enable others to survive. George Clooney, Co-Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee, presented the inaugural Aurora Prize to Ms. Marguerite Barankitse during a ceremony in Armenia on April 24, 2016.

Nominations for next year’s Aurora Prize are open until September 9, 2016. Members of the public are encouraged to nominate inspiring humanitarians who are saving lives and advancing humanitarian causes in all parts of the world. To nominate an eligible candidate, please visit .

Photo: AP

A man named Vladimir Putin – who is not the Russian president – has been arrested in a Florida supermarket on trespassing charges.

The 48-year-old man, who shares the same name as the Russian leader, was arrested on charges of trespassing and resisting an officer without violence at a Publix supermarket in downtown West Palm Beach last week.

Police said Mr Putin was screaming at employees and refused to leave the supermarket. He then left and returned again to scream some more.

Mr Putin was asked to leave the property again but sat outside on its patio instead, 

A police report said Mr Putin initially refused to give officers his name.

Mr Putin appeared in court on Monday morning and was released with another court date set for September.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Hassan Ghashghavi has said on Tuesday that Armenia will release eight jailed Iranians on Wednesday,  reports. 

PHOTO: SHANNON

Sixteen people have been injured after turbulence prompted a transatlantic flight to make an emergency landing in the Republic of Ireland, the BBC reports.

Fourteen passengers and two crew members were taken to hospital from Shannon Airport at about 06:00 BST.

The United Airlines flight was travelling from Houston, Texas, to London Heathrow.

The emergency landing followed “severe and unexpected turbulence”, said the airline in a statement.

The injured passengers and crew were taken to University Hospital, Limerick, for treatment.

The Boeing 767-300 jet had 207 passengers and 13 crew members on board.

“The aircraft diverted to Shannon Airport in Ireland where it was met by medical personnel,” said the airline.

“United Airlines is providing care and support to customers and crew of flight UA-880.”

Photo: Sputnik

Russian man wanted by the United States for alleged money laundering and illegal arms sales has left Armenia after being briefly detained in Yerevan.

Russian RIA Novosti agency reports Mironov has already arrived at Vnukovo Airport in Moscow.

Mironov, 30, was detained in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Friday for alleged money laundering and illegal transfer of military technology after the US government request.

The man is an employee of Moscow office of Synesis, the company developing intelligent video surveillance and business intelligence based on computer vision.

Armenia lost to the Czech Republic 3-0 in a warm-up game on Wednesday ahead of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Ladislav Krejci netted four minutes into the game, Vaclav Kadlec doubled the lead 30 minutes later and Jan Kopic finished the scoring three minutes from time.

The Gebeshian- an element performed by Armenian gymnast Houry Gebeshian on uneven bars at Rio Olympics – has been named after her.

The element represents a hecht mount with a 360 degree turn with repulsion off the low bar to the high bar.

In Rio, Gebeshian became the first female gymnast to represent Armenia at an Olympic Games.

In Rio in August, the FIG Technical Committees approved four new elements — two in Men’s and two in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics — to be named for the gymnasts who performed them. All four elements were successfully performed during the 2016 Olympic Games and will be published in their respective Code of Points.

It is a way of achieving immortality in Gymnastics: the gymnast who has an original skill named after them in the Code of Points assures that his or her name will live on in the sport, years after they have taken their final bows on the international stage.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. A number of issues on Armenian-Russian agenda were  discussed.

The Foreign Ministers of the two countries referred to the implementation of the agreements reached at Vienna an St. Petersburg summits, which will create conditions for furthering the process of peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian will visit Germany on August 31 and September 1 to participate in the non-official meeting of the Foreign Ministers of OSCE participating states.

Minister Nalbandian will later visit Bratislava September 2-3 to participate in the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union and the Eastern Partnership member states.

Photo: Getty Images

Ireland should recover up to €13bn (£11bn) from Apple in back taxes, the European Commission has ruled.

After a three-year investigation, it has concluded that the US firm’s tax benefits are illegal.

The Commission said Ireland enabled the company to pay substantially less than other businesses, in effect paying a corporate tax rate of no more than 1%.

Ireland and Apple both said they disagreed with the decision and would appeal against it.

“Member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules,” said Commissioner Margarethe Vestager.

“The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years,” she added.

The standard rate of Irish corporate tax is 12.5%. The Commissions’s investigation concluded that Apple had effectively paid 1% tax on its European profits in 2003 and about 0.005% in 2014.

Ms Vestager said that the tax agreement reached between Ireland and Apple meant that the company’s taxable profits “did not correspond to economic reality”.